Elvet Striders

33nd Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon, Chapel Stile, Great Langdale, 2nd July

Nigel Heppell ...

Shaun and I decided to team up for this event back in the depths of winter when entries opened. Come July and the weather was a bit warmer but we were pleased to be going to a central part of the Lakes that was new to me. We were in a 'middling' category, Carrock Fell, the same as last year, which we completed last time in 6hrs day 1, and 5hrs day 2.

Without going into too much gory detail, day 1 was OK for navigation but apart from a bit of running in the first hour, the terrain made the rest of it a long walk - 9 hour's worth. Some issues with paths on the map that just were not there on the ground and some very steep climbs even though we later found we had followed the organiser's optimum route. A couple of hours contouring left each of us with a badly blistered heel.

Overnight camp turned out to be pretty cold but by 7.30am it was warming up. Day 2 started with traditional big ascent to the first checkpoint and mortal agony from heels. Tried every combination known to man to relieve pain but to no avail with feet continually immersed in gritty peat bog.

In the knowledge that day 2 was listed as a similar distance and the same climb as day 1 we made the executive decision to take the direct route back to the event centre from checkpoint 3 and looking at the comments of others there is no doubt this was the right choice under the circumstances. Missing out checkpoints 4-9, it still took us 5 hours to get back.

Its possible you may not see us at the Saltwell Harriers fell race on Tuesday.

... and Shaun Roberts:

Well, this year's Carrock Fell course was a bugger. 106 pairs started Day 1 - 61 finished Day 2. The rate of attrition in the harder classes was even higher. Nigel and I were quite happy to finish mid-pack last year but this time we had a very, very tough course on Day 1, with loads of very steep climbing, lots of tough descending through stony bracken, and worse, lots of "contouring", that went across scree, boulder fields, and interrupting streams, that seemed to end up twisting the ankles over for ages.

The upshot was that we did very little running on Day 1, and took a long time - amazingly we were actually close to the recommended route at all times, but there wasn't much running going on, by us or anyone else. Both of us picked up blisters that despite repeated attempts to patch up, left us both hobbling on Day 2, and we were left the prospect of another horribly long day, but in pain, so we bailed out after taking 3h for CP3. Quite happy to do so in an orderly manner, mind, getting back to the start camp, and also coming in first of the "mp"s!! ["Missed points".]

We were disappointed, but felt somewhat victims of an overly-hard course. But then "you win some you lose some", especially in MMs ...

So we'll be putting this one down to experience.

Results

Carrock Fell

106 starters, 61 finishers.